Finance gained 1,000 jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not a loss, which is a good thing, but also not much to celebrate, either.
Finance and insurance, a subsector within the industry, gained 1,600 jobs, while real estate gained 1,000 jobs. Commercial banking lost 1,400 jobs and credit intermediation, which includes mortgage lenders, lost 700 jobs.
On the plus (and surprising) side: Securities, commodity contracts and investments, which signifies investment banking, gained 500 jobs.
It's worth pointing out that parsing such a small gain, the 1,000 jobs figure, makes it tough to draw any broad conclusions about where the industry is heading. The sector tends to gain and lose in the low thousands every month.
The industry may be crab-walking back and forth, but Wall Street is changing on a fundamental level. Banks have announced thousands of layoffs in the past few weeks, and it will take several months for them to show up in BLS data.
Vikram Pandit isn't leaving Citigroup any time soon, but in order to bring home his paycheck he needs to make a list of people who could theoretically succeed him. One surprise: A woman has made the cut.
Healthcare M&A, which is doing very well this year, needs to turn a corner by integrating technology into the arena.
Royal Bank of Scotland has shed 5,700 employees since last year as the bank tries to transform into a lean machine.
Staying in Touch (Mergers & Inquisitions)
Even if everyone you know has been laid off from their finance gig, it's still a good idea to keep in touch. You never know where people will end up.
It's OK to Lie (Business Insider)
In an interview. Sometimes. Like if you left your previous job because you hated your boss, or if a coworker tried to sabotage one of your projects.
Banks and the Olympics used to go together like Lloyd Blankfein and Gary Cohn. Now, because of increased public vitriol, bankers are trying to go low-key this time around, like taking the Tube to events.
Buzz Around the Office
A Guilty Conscience Needs No Xbox (UPI.com)
A burglar who couldn't handle the guilt of stealing electronics from a Canadian family's home returned the goods the next day along with a written apology, a $50 bill and a promise to conduct 15 hours of community service to "partially help atone" for the mistake.
List of the Day: Getting Ahead
If you want a promotion, you're going to have to earn it.
1. Do your current job better. Even if you hate it.
2. Make allies with the right people.
3. Volunteer to help with things not in your job description.
(Source: Forbes)
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- FINS.com: Finance jobs, research and career news by FINS from The Wall Street Journal